Plot owners object to PMC's plan for bio-park

Over 10,000 plot-holders around the city are up in arms against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) for restricting them from constructing on their land on the pretext that it has been reserved for bio-diversity parks (BDP). Some of the affected areas are Pidwewadi, Katraj, Paud road, Bavdhan and Vishrantwadi.

The matter became serious after the PMC general body approved the C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) report on the BDP reservation last week.



"Under the pretext of BDP, they are allowing us to use only four per cent of our plot. We will go to court and also to the minister of forest and environment to fight against the injustice," said Chandrashekhar Kulkarni, member of Nagari Hakka Samiti (NHS).

Sudhir Kaka Kulkarni, president of NHS said: "The PMC has decided to take over 978 hectares of land which they say are under BDP reservation."

Captian Deepak Guhagarkar (59) had purchased about 5,000 square feet of Non-Agricultural (NA) land to construct a bungalow after retirement at Bhavdhan Khurd Amchi Colony.

The colony layout had been approved and sanctioned by the collector of Pune in 1985. "After May 2005, my plot was affected by BDP reservation. There is no use even discussing it with the urban development department of the government," he said.